Defence Minister Thandi Modise has stressed that she along with her counterpart in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele did not necessarily feel their lives were in danger when military veterans held the pair and Modise’s deputy Thabang Makwetla hostage on Thursday evening, 14 October.

Modise shed some light on the circumstances surrounding the dramatic incident, which unfolded at the St. George’s Hotel in Irene, Centurion. The trio had been meeting with the disgruntled ex-combatants to iron out their grievances. The group was initially scheduled to meet with Deputy President David Mabuza, however this seemingly did not happen.

The Special Task Force Unit was soon roped in and the trio was rescued later that evening. At least 56 people have been arrested and they face about three counts of kidnapping.

Thandi Modise Bemoans being held hostage

Speaking on the kidnapping, Thandi Modise says they did take issue with the fact that the military veterans were holding them against their own will.

“We did not feel that our lives were in danger. We were unhappy about being refused to leave when the meeting had clearly aborted. We do not think that any citizen, whether they had volunteered to fight for the liberation of this country, has any right to interfere with any individual.”

Defence Minister Thandi Modise

Modise added that their kidnapping showed that South Africa isn’t a security-heavy state, particularly because this occured, despite them being heavily-guarded public officials.

“It shows that ministers still trust fellow citizens to sit around with them. It also demonstrates that we will go to any instance to hear concerns about any citizen,” Modise said.

When asked if there are any plans to drop the charges against the veterans, Modise said: “Not from this table. We can’t do that. There was a violation. We do not want to set a precedent where the law can be broken and set aside,”